Want to impress your friends or coworkers by dropping some knowledge on them? Let them know that GIFs, pronounced “Jifs,” were developed all the way back in the 1980s.

Graphics Interchange Format was developed on June 15, 1987, by software writer Steve Wilhite. Since then, these short compressed video clips have become so popular that the word “GIF” was named the 2012 Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year. Even more importantly, the “GIF” has evolved from a medium for pop-cultural memes into a tool with serious applications, including research and journalism, and its lexical identity is transforming to keep pace.

Besides the entertainment value of GIFs, marketers have embraced them as well. That’s because:

GIFs let others know you’re up-to-date on Internet trends

GIFs show off your fun side

GIFs add more context to shorter messages, blog posts, or Tweets

GIFs allow your message to be sent in a shorter amount of time

GIFs are easy to share

GIFs convey emotions more effectively than just text or photos

So if you haven’t added GIFs to your marketing or social media strategy yet, then it’s time to jump on the bandwagon. And the first place to start is by knowing how you can make, find, and know when to properly use GIFs.

How to make GIFs

Creating your own GIFs shows your audience how creative your brand is. And it gives you a chance to show off your personality.

The best part is that you can easily make your own GIFs simply by uploading your own images and videos or pasting a URL to any of the following online tools or apps:

Another cool tool is Instagram’s Boomerang. This tool lets you use your phone’s camera to make a custom GIF. Just take a short burst of photos on your phone and then combine or reverse them so to create a looping clip. Once it’s created, you can share it with others immediately.

Giphy Cam is another app that’s perfect for creating GIFs while out and about, perhaps at an event. Just record a clip, and the app lets you add filters, effects, and text. Your GIF can then be shared or saved.

Of course, you can never go wrong with Photoshop. It’s still one of the most popular and effective ways to make a GIF.

If you’re using a video to create a GIF in Photoshop, start by finding a good video sequence. Shorter is usually better, as larger video clips lead to larger file sizes. Next, you just download or upload the sequence to your desktop and then open the video with Photoshop by going to File > Import > Video Frames to Layers.

Once there, start adjusting the settings, such as colors and size, to your liking. Then head to File > Save for Web, click save, and share it online by using free hosting sites like Imgur.

Don’t forget to set “looping” to “forever.” This ensures you don’t end up with a single-loop animation.

If you’re confused, check out some of these YouTube tutorials to guide you through the process.

Where to find GIFs

There’s absolutely no shortage of premade GIFs online, but here’s a list of websites that contain GIFs you wouldn’t be embarrassed to incorporate into your marketing campaign.

Giphy: This is the world’s largest library of animated GIFs, so you’re bound to find the perfect GIF. Just type in a keyword, or what you want to be in your GIF, and you’ll receive a list of relevant results.

com: Here’s another GIF library, but it’s unique in that if you don’t know what kind of content to post today, you can use Gifbin.com’s Random GIF generator to gain inspiration.

Reddit (/r/gifs): The GIF-specific subreddit is known to host an excellent collection of GIFs.

Tumblr: Considered Ground Zero for GIF culture, you can grab a meme before they become widely popular.

Imgur: This is a viral photo, video, and GIF hub where you can find today’s most popular viral content.

Educational GIFs: This blog has a collection of GIFs that educate others — whether it’s the evolution of the F1 racecar or how a parachute release mechanism works.

Reaction GIFs: These are just snippets of emotions in GIF form. Just conduct a search by a feeling, keyword, tag, gallery, or answer (like “YES!”).

When and how to use GIFs

Now that you know how to make or find GIFs, it’s time to discuss how you should use them properly.

Show your brand’s personality: A funny, quirky, or endearing GIF is one of the best ways to show the brand’s human side and authenticity. In return, this will help develop a stronger relationship with your audience.

Feature your products or services: GIFs can be used to show your products or services in action, like a product demo. You can then share these GIFs on social channels like Facebook and Twitter.

Show behind the scenes: Feature your employees, offices, or any other behind-the-scenes events, like a photo shoot, so your audience can see what makes your brand unique.

Explain a process or how-to: Sometimes a visual is more effective when explaining something. GIFs are ideal for step-by-step how-tos, following along with processes, or even something like quick recipes.

Offer a sneak peek: Do you have a new product or big announcement coming up? GIFs are a great way to tease the news.

Tell a story: You can string together multiple still images to tell a story of motion or change over time.

Animate data: You can insert a piece of data or statistic into an animated diagram or graphic to provide your audience with context.

Thank someone: Who doesn’t enjoy being thanked? GIFs are a unique way to thank your customers, donors, or employees.

While those are just a few examples of how to use GIFs, make sure you don’t post GIFs out of context. For example, a GIF of a pizza coming out of an oven might look pretty cool, but it’s probably not relevant unless you’re a pizzeria.

Additionally, don’t use GIFs to try to be hip. Use entertaining GIFs that fit your organization. But most importantly, stay away from overly branding your GIFs by saturating them with your logo or trademark.

An example you may have seen already is the GIF used to promote this blog post. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I used GIFs.com to create this Nightmare Before Christmas GIF. It was really simple and easily shareable on Facebook and Twitter. Try it yourself!

So how do you use GIFs in marketing or social media campaigns? Let us know in the comments.